


片想いサンバ (One-Sided Love Samba)

by kufuutarou



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, i love tanatsu so much, it's just sappy gay love really, my first natsuyuu fic heh, they're very much in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26051140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kufuutarou/pseuds/kufuutarou
Summary: Tanuma and Natsume are in love. It isn’t until a while later that they realize it’s with each other.
Relationships: Natsume Takashi/Tanuma Kaname
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	片想いサンバ (One-Sided Love Samba)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSV5xLRsz_c :) I thought this song fit them quite well except it's actually requited love, they just don't seem to realize that haha

Natsume Takashi was in love.

With who, you might ask? No one other than Tanuma Kaname.

At first, he thought it was just because Tanuma could understand his youkai troubles. However, the closer they became, the more Natsume realized his feelings were more than that. Sometimes they’d brush shoulders, or Tanuma’d help him up, and Natsume felt like he was going to have a heart attack right then and there. He’d feel his chest tighten just a bit whenever Tanuma smiled at him.

Once he finally realized his feelings, he had a hard time being around Tanuma. Suddenly, everything they did together was enough to get his face tinged red, and Natsume wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up the “oh, it’s just a cold” lie going. He wanted to hold Tanuma, to be held, so badly, so much so that it hurt. He was in love, and he didn’t know what to do.

* * *

Likewise, Tanuma Kaname was also in love.

He realized it one night after laying down while thinking about his day. He had met Natsume in the forest, and they had walked together. He let his mind race a bit, and before he knew it, he was thinking about them holding hands and Natsume blushing.

That wasn’t what you normally thought about friends, right?

He felt his own face grow red, and he pulled the blanket up further to hide his blush from nothing in particular.

After that, it took everything in Tanuma to resist the urge to grab Natsume’s hand whenever they were together, or to sit just a bit closer to him. He realized that falling in love with Natsume was one of his biggest mistakes ever, because Natsume was just about the most beautiful thing Tanuma had ever saw.

Every time he laughed, it rang in Tanuma’s ears, and his heart beat just a bit faster. Even when he got angry, it was cute. He blushed a lot too, which, despite being seriously endearing, did _not_ help Tanuma’s situation at all. He was in love, and he wanted to cherish Natsume until the end of time.

* * *

It happened one night, when Natsume was staying over at Tanuma’s. His dad was out for the weekend, which means they had the place to themselves. As the sun set, they watched it from Tanuma’s room, sitting on the veranda. Nyanko-sensei had already left, saying something about going out to drink.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it,” Tanuma smiled.

Natsume looked at him for a moment, and replied. “Yeah, you’re right.” He wasn’t lying, either; the way the blues and pinks merged together in the sky was a beautiful sight. He thought it complimented Tanuma well.

...ahh, how his heart ached. He wanted to move closer and hold his hand, but over the past few weeks, he had learned self control better than in his entire lifetime.

“The fish in the pond are as lively as ever,” Natsume said, in an attempt to get his mind off Tanuma. “It looks like a few of them are chasing after each other.”

Tanuma watched as Natsume’s eyes followed the fish. “Is that so...?” He tried to see what Natsume saw, but it was impossible, as usual. “That’s good to hear.”

All of a sudden, a single firework shot up into the sky, and exploded with a loud _bang_. The two of them were taken aback but kept watching in anticipation for the next ones.

“That’s right...father did mention some kind of festival going on in the area. I guess this is what those are from, then,” Tanuma leaned back as he enjoyed the colorful bursts in the air. He looked at Natsume again, and he immediately regretted it.

Natsume’s eyes seemed to glimmer as he looked at the fireworks, his expression so beautiful, Tanuma didn’t even realize he had pulled Natsume into a hug until he heard him say his name. He pulled back immediately, with an embarrassed face.

“Ah...sorry. I don’t know what got ahold of me,” He scratched his neck. “I just saw you smiling and...suddenly wanted to hold you. Sorry, that’s probably weird.”

Natsume looked at him with wide eyes and a bright red face. He didn’t say anything as he moved closer and laid his head upon Tanuma’s shoulder. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”

“Natsume...!?” Tanuma stared at him. Did that mean...? He slowly put his arm around Natsume’s neck, and looked back up at the sky. 

“I like you, Tanuma,” Natsume suddenly said. “I’ve liked you for a while, now. But I didn’t know what to do...I didn’t want to ruin our friendship with this, so I just hid it. But being like this...” he moved even closer to Tanuma. “...makes me regret ever hiding it at all.”

Tanuma laughed softly. “Sorry, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just funny to hear you say that, because I thought the exact same thing. I like you too, Natsume, but I didn’t want to say anything because I cherished this friendship too much. Guess we’re both idiots, huh.”

Natsume watched him laugh and suddenly sat up, moving across from Tanuma. “I...don’t know how to handle these kinds of things. This is my first time being in love, so I don’t know how selfish I’m allowed to be.” He looked Tanuma in the eyes. “I want to do these things with you all the time, not just tonight, and have us go back to being friends. I want to be with Tanuma...” He looked away, the blush on his face increasing with each syllable he uttered.

Tanuma said Natsume’s name quietly, watching him fidget. _To hell with this_ , he thought, and pulled Natsume in for a kiss.

“Wha—“ their lips met softly, sparks seeming to travel down their spines. Natsume closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Tanuma’s back. He was so afraid of love, because eventually they would get hurt by something because of him. But Tanuma... Tanuma was different. He knew of all the things Natsume saw. He knew, and yet he still swore to protect Natsume from things he couldn't even see. It felt so liberating, to finally be able to fall in love and feel accepted.

He sighed into the kiss, allowing his body to relax as Tanuma held him, just as he had always imagined. He heard a firework go off, but he didn’t bother to look, because this was better than 100 of them going off at once.

Tanuma pulled back, smiling softly. “I also... want to stay like this. I want to be with Natsume too. So...will you go out with me?” His face was completely red.

“After all that, you still have to ask?” Natsume joked, but smiled back. “The answer is of course.” He held Tanuma’s hands in his. “So this is our first date, then?”

Tanuma kissed him again, this time softly. “Tomorrow, let’s go out on a proper date. We can go wherever you’d like.”

“Ehh? I don’t have anywhere in particular I’d like to go. As long as I can be with you, I don’t mind.” Their lips were still millimeters apart, so Natsume pressed them together once more. “We can just stay here, since your dad’s out on a business trip anyways.”

“Well, I guess if you’re fine with it, I am too. It’s settled then. We’ll have our first date here tomorrow.” Tanuma gave Natsume a proud smile. “We should get to bed soon, then.”

At the mention of that, Natsume’s already red face turned darker. “Un, yeah...I’ll help you with the futons.”

Tanuma watched Natsume’s behavior throughout their bedtime routine, up until it was time to lay down.

“You know,” he began, “our date can start now if you want it to. My futon is large enough for both of us.” He watched Natsume’s eyes widen at that.

“O-Okay...” Natsume said quietly, walking towards Tanuma’s futon instead. He laid under the covers next to him, feeling his heart race. He was so close to Tanuma, he was afraid to make any movement.

Tanuma, however, was much different. While he was also nervous, he was quick to wrap an arm around Natsume and kiss him once again. “This is nice.” He couldn’t contain the smile on his face; he was so happy to finally be with Natsume.

Natsume stared blankly for a few seconds before relaxing and moving closer into Tanuma’s chest. “Yeah, it is.” His face and ears were beet red, but his heart didn't waver. It felt so warm, and as he fell asleep, his last thought was that he never wanted to let this feeling go. 

**Author's Note:**

> sorry this is like. really self-indulgent haha. i really love tanatsu's dynamic, they work so well together.
> 
> totally unrelated but i'm finishing this while playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtyLlIv7XOA on repeat it's a wonder i can write cute things like this LOL


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